SACRAMENTO, CA — Governor Jerry Brown today released a statement supporting a controversial federal bill that includes a rider that upends environmental protections for salmon and other endangered species in California’s rivers and the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary.

The bill, the Water Infrastructure and Improvements Act for the Nation, was originally a short-term measure designed to expire in 2021. Republicans in the House of Representatives are trying to extend the measure another seven years, and have added provisions that would override protections for salmon and other endangered species in the Bay Delta. State and federal scientists have stated that greater protections of fish and wildlife in the Bay Delta are needed.

By overriding the protections, the bill would help open the way for construction of the destructive massive tunnels promoted by Governor Brown.

Statement from Sierra Club California Director Kathryn Phillips:

“Jerry Brown has just delivered a huge, climate-threatening lump of coal to the Delta ecosystem, its fish and wildlife, and the struggling salmon fishing community.

“He is closing in on his last month as governor. It’s sad that Brown has chosen to spend part of his remaining political capital on a bad bill that will deliver bad results to California’s environment.